. >> reporter: in washington, there is still hope a deal can be cut in time to avert the fiscal cliff. on saturday the president was at work here at the white house, but all eyes were up on the senate where negotiators were trading deal points and revenue figures, to try to reach an agreement all sides can stomach. the base line for the president - any bipartisan bill would have to extend unemployment insurance benefits that would affect some two million americans. and it would have to increase taxes on the highest income earners. but negotiators could still work out exactly where those tax increases would hit and whether they would halt an increase in the estate tax. now in case that deal breaks down, the president has asked democratic leader harry reid to prepare a separate bill to put on the senate floor. that bill would increase taxes for households that earn 250- thousand dollars or more. now that's a democratic proposal, and you can expect republicans would block it. so rather than thinking of that as a stop-gap measure, think of it as a political move to try to shift the respon